The present invention relates to a vehicle washing apparatus and in particular to a vehicle washing apparatus employed for reclaiming and clarifying recirculated wash water while cleaning a vehicle.
It is common for a vehicle wash apparatus to include a combination of moving or rotating brushes and high pressure spray nozzles to remove dirt and debris from a vehicle. The brushes physically contact surfaces of a vehicle to scrub and remove dirt and debris therefrom. The nozzles utilize a high pressure water spray to clean other surfaces of a vehicle, particularly delicate surfaces which are susceptible to damage from rotating brushes. For example, brushes can cause damage to windows on buses which are commonly made of plastics such as DuPont Lucite or General Electric Lexan. Furthermore, a need has arisen to recirculate wash water in a wash vehicle apparatus in order to conserve water, thereby saving vehicle cleaning costs. However, recirculation of dirt and sediment collected during a wash cycle can damage a vehicle when recirculated through a brush system or a spray nozzle.
Introduction of recirculated soot and particles through a rotating wash brush can cause significant damage to a vehicle body and especially a painted surface. Likewise, high pressure water nozzles use high pressure water flow therefrom to loosen and dislodge debris and particulate while cleaning a vehicle surface which can damage the surface. The recirculated dirt and sediment is propelled at a vehicle surface along with the water under high velocity and can actually sand blast and pit a surface.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle wash apparatus which effectively cleans and clarifies recirculated wash water which is then re-used by the vehicle wash apparatus in a subsequent cleaning cycle in a manner which does not damage a vehicle surface.
It is a feature of the present invention that a clarifying tank separates solids from recirculated wash water by swirling the water in the tank in response to inlet water flow which creates centrifugal forces which in conjunction with gravity separates the solids from clarified water located centrally in the tank. Preferably, a separate cyclone separator pre-filters wash water before it is introduced into the clarifier tank. Wash water is first reclaimed from a central settling pit in a vehicle wash apparatus by drawing it with a sump pump and feeding it to the cyclone separator for pre-separation. The cyclone separate draws off purged solids which are delivered to the settling tank. Subsequently, the pre-separated wash water is introduced into the clarifying tank where it is further separated, purging solids which are delivered to the bottom of the settling pit. A high pressure pump thereafter draws clarified water from the clarifier tank which is introduced into wash stations in the vehicle wash apparatus.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.